THE YARD..... The GC Grumble Societies thread.... ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK...!!!

Sais illegitimate child is actually quite friendly. Anything involving marw (= to die) generally means it's time to make a run for it.

 

Dirt!
That's the one that really irritates me. Soil and earth sound clean and organic whereas dirt suggests something the cat did!
...Although I must admit, having four children aged between 20 and 26 years, some of it does start to rub off. During a recent family gathering, I couldn't believe hearing myself call out, 'some help here you guys please..'

Does anybody else find the habit, (originally Australian and now widespread) of ending a sentence with a rising pitch a bit much to get used to?

 

Absolutely fascinating......................you would never have this conversation outside of the British Isles - please let it continue.

 

This reminds me of something in Richard Lederer's "Anguished English":
Sentence that was supposedly found in a student's essay: "The girl tumbled down the stairs and lay prostitute at the bottom."
The professor's reply: "My dear sir, you must learn to distinguish between a fallen woman and one who has merely slipped."

I agree with you wholeheartedly about bored of! And don't get me started on 'beg the question', which I was always taught means to give the answer to the (unasked)question or to make the question unnecessary. Nowadays it is routinely used merely to mean 'ask the question'.
My husband hates 'ahead of' instead of 'before'. I could go on...and on and on!

 

Well what about "at this moment in time"
Is NOW a dirty word. Think it must be as nobody will use it.

 

Yes, Shiney. You are now an Honorary Member of the Grumpy Society. I think we should have our own thread. We could call it 'The Yard' - a properly enclosed area in which to vent hot air. See my post under Members' Requests.

 

I've asked Marvin but he said it gave him a headache just thinking down to my level.

 

Yes - in any case 'Member Requests' sounds a little dodgy. We don't want to encourage riff-raff. :lollol:

 

Its a good idea, as long as people are a little mindful of what they say.
I have already been insulted once on this thread!

 

Well, I'll start with a squeaky-clean and uplifting tale of everyday parcel collection folk.

A while ago I had a long running battle with a local firm of couriers which seemed totally incapable of collecting a package I'd had sitting on my desk for some time. Finally, after getting sick of watching it gather dust, I asked to speak to the boss. He wasn't there - but, amazingly, he did ring me back. 'Are you the lady with the parcel which needs uplifting?,' he inquired cheerily. I'm afraid I just couldn't resist. 'My parcel no long needs uplifting,' I replied. 'It's had enough time to go through two complete courses of therapy since I first asked you to collect it and although it still has the occasional down day when it gets bored with collecting fluff, on the whole it's now a very happy and contented package indeed.' There was a long silence. 'Fine,' said the voice on the other end of the line. I'll tell the lads that an uplift is no longer required.'